Voice of sanity: ‘Bollywood has to rid itself of mediocrity’

Anurag Kashyap wants film fraternity to pull up its socks


Ians June 07, 2016
Anurag admits that he has become very selfish. PHOTO: FILE

MUMBAI: Film-maker Anurag Kashyap, who has helmed hard-hitting films such as Black Friday and Gangs of Wasseypur, feels that the Hindi film industry needs to pull up its socks as regional cinema is threatening the industry and even Hollywood may take over the market with its dubbed version of films.

“The more regional cinema will threaten us, Bollywood will work harder. We are threatened from everywhere because we are more mediocre as compared to everybody else. We have to get rid of our mediocrity and pull up our socks and make better films,” Kashyap said in an interview. “Apart from regional films, Hollywood will definitely take over because they have started dubbing everything. We have to start making better content,” he added.

Regional cinema, which has always been high on content, has also now started to be a money spinner at the Indian box office. With films such as Sairat (Marathi), Thithi (Kannada) and Kammatti Paadam (Malayalam) among others, it is coming into spotlight in a big way.

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Kashyap also believes that unlike Hollywood, Bollywood is a star-driven market. “Sometimes you need stars in the West... [But] when the idea is bigger, you go for a newcomer. In Hollywood, they will go for a newcomer because they believe in the idea. Here, when the idea is bigger, they go for the star because they don’t believe in the idea... It’s a star-driven market,” he said.

The filmmaker also doesn’t “enjoy” controversy. “In this country, people cannot deal with honesty ... I talk straight ... I am not a person who looks for controversy. I don’t enjoy controversy so much. Today, everybody has an opinion, and in a sea of opinions, it doesn’t matter,” the 43-year-old said. Of late, Kashyap said, he has become very selfish.

“I want to live my life and my focus is on work and my family. I am 43 now and I have seen a lot in life. My entire focus is on my own happiness,” added the film-maker, whose last directorial Bombay Velvet failed to elicit the response he had expected.

He said his journey in the industry has been quite a roller coaster ride. “It feels good and I would not like to change anything about my journey. It’s quite satisfying if I get to do what I want to, I am happy. I am my own boss,” he added.

Kashyap is currently busy promoting his film Raman Raghav 2.0, which narrates the story of serial killer Raman Raghav, who went on a murder spree in Mumbai in the 1960s. It features Nawazuddin Siddiqui as the notorious serial-killer alongside Vicky Kaushal, who plays a police officer.

Kashyap also admitted his fascination with the crime genre. “I enjoy making crime films. I, as a director, never left that space. I am fascinated by crime,” he said.

The psychological-thriller, presented by Reliance Entertainment and a product of Phantom Films, is set to hit theatres on June 24.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2016.

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COMMENTS (1)

Drexel | 7 years ago | Reply Says the man who is best friends with Karan Johar n made Bombay velvet!
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